MIT Physicist Proposes New "Meaning of Life" MIT physicist Jeremy England claims that life may not be so mysterious after all, despite the fact it is apparently derived from non-living matter. In a new paper, England explains how simple physical laws make complex life more likely than not. In other words, it would be more surprising to find no life in the universe than a buzzing place like planet Earth. What does all matter—rocks, plants, animals, and humans—have in common? [S]imple physical laws make complex life more likely than not. According to England, the second law of thermodynamics gives life its meaning. [T]he second law of thermodynamics gives life its meaning. The strength of England's theory is that it provides an underlying physical basis for Darwin's theory of evolution and helps explain some evolutionary tendencies that evolution cannot. Here is Michio Kaku's concise explanation of the entire physical universe: Read more at Business Insider Photo credit: Shutterstock
Faculty Service-Learning Resources - a comprehensive collection of online service-learning Bridging Theory and Experience In this Video: Director Chris Fiorentino provides a service-learning overview. Service-Learning is an exciting, high impact approach to education. Service-Learning intentionally ties relevant community service to academic content in a given course and uses critical reflection activities to strengthen learning and developmental outcomes. Faculty Service-Learning Modules The Richter Center is committed to assisting faculty in their efforts to incorporate high quality service-learning into courses across the curriculum. Module One: Is service-learning for you? Module Two: How do we know service-learning works? Module Three: How do I get started? Module Four: What are the keys to establishing high-quality partnerships? Module Five: How do I evaluate and assess student learning? Module Six: What campus policies and procedures I should be aware of? Module Seven: How does this impact my professional growth?
10 Ways Manipulators Use Emotional Intelligence for Evil (and How to Fight Back) Emotional intelligence is nothing new. Sure, the term was coined in the 1960's, and popularized by psychologists in recent decades. But the concept of emotional intelligence--which I define as a person's ability to recognize and understand emotions and use that information to guide decision making--has been around as long as we have. This skill we refer to as emotional intelligence (also known as EI or EQ) is like any other ability: You can cultivate it, work to enhance it, sharpen it. And it's important to know that just like other skills, emotional intelligence can be used both ethically and unethically. The dark side of emotional intelligence Organizational psychologist and best-selling author Adam Grant identified EI at its worst in his essay for The Atlantic, The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence: "Recognizing the power of emotions...one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century spent years studying the emotional effects of his body language. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Imagining America | Artists & Scholars in Public Life No Joke: Terry Jones Explains the Last (and Next) Financial Crisis When Thomas Carlyle first referred to economics as “the dismal science” in the 19th century, he meant the dismal, end-of-the-world predictions economists often made. Today, economics inspires dread not just with apocalyptic predictions, but also with deadeningly dull, distressingly dense complexity. If economics bores or frustrates you to tears, turn them into tears of laughter with former Monty Python member Terry Jones’ new documentary Boom Bust Boom—a look back at the 2008 world financial crisis and forward (perhaps) to the next one. Jones (shown above) demonstrates with humor, talking heads, animation, and puppet economists how the cycle of boom, bust, and boom’s rolled over people for centuries and how we might stop it from rolling over us again. Image: Terry Jones in a scene from Boom Bust Boom. What, you may ask, qualifies a comedian to talk about economics? Image: An animated version of Terry Jones in a scene from Boom Bust Boom. Image: An animated scene from Boom Bust Boom.
Assessment Tools - Information for Faculty - Service Learning - Civic Engagement - Division of Student Affairs Information for Faculty Service-Learning Assessment Tools Assessment can help determine the effectiveness of a service-learning course and its impact on students and community partners. The Office of Leadership & Civic Engagement offers several assessment tools to help faculty collect usable data from service-learning courses, easily receive feedback from community partners and students, and provide feedback on faculty service-learning experiences. All faculty teaching a service-learning course are encouraged to use the evaluation and assessment tools described below: Student Learning Outcomes - Community Service Attitudes Scale (CSAS) and Qualitative Survey The CSAS is a tool developed by service-learning practitioners and used nationally to measure student perceptions about community service. The student qualitative evaluation allows students to give written feedback on the service-learning course experience. Faculty Evaluation of Service-Learning Experience – link to online evaluation
The Falling Man Do you remember this photograph? In the United States, people have taken pains to banish it from the record of September 11, 2001. The story behind it, though, and the search for the man pictured in it, are our most intimate connection to the horror of that day. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below In the picture, he departs from this earth like an arrow. Associated Press The photographer is no stranger to history; he knows it is something that happens later. Richard Drew has never done that. There is something almost rebellious in the man's posture, as though once faced with the inevitability of death, he decided to get on with it. There was no terror or confusion at the Associated Press. He sent the image to the AP's server. They began jumping not long after the first plane hit the North Tower, not long after the fire started. They began jumping not long after the first plane hit the North Tower, not long after the fire started. And so it went. It was no sideshow. Photographs lie.
Center for Service Learning & Leadership — Purdue North Central Indiana Campus Compact Service Engagement Summit Service Engagement on the 21st Century Campus Thursday, March 27 & Friday, March 28, 2014 Indianapolis Marriott North, Indianapolis, Indiana ICC will host the 4th annual Service Engagement Summit on March 27-28, 2014. Read more on the Events & Conference page. PNC, a Carnegie Engaged University Purdue University North Central was selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for its 2010 Community Engagement Elective Classification. About Us The Center for Service Learning & Leadership helps to foster the academic success and civic responsibility of PNC students through experiential education and service engagement activities. Read more about the Center for Service Learning & Leadership on the About Us page.
Artist Who Lost A Friend Creates A Comic Tribute That’ll Inspire You To Drop Everything And Start Living Ever feel trapped by life? Ever wanted to quit your job, sell your car, and hit the open road with nothing but what you can carry on your back? Well as you can see from this inspiring comic tribute, the late Patrick Joseph Falterman II did just that. Patrick, who ran a website called hitchtheworld.com, recently died after the plane he was piloting crashed in Liberty County, Texas. More info: Things In Squares | Facebook | Hitchtheworld.com Thanks for sharing! 3x per week 30,000,000+ monthly readers Error sending email
International Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement When You Can't Afford to Make a Mistake, This’ll Keep You Sharp Peter Baumann suggests that our biases can get a bad rap, but that they’re essential. He sees them as unconscious inclinations that we’ve developed over time, and most of the time, they reflect actual knowledge we’ve acquired about how the world works. They set the frameworks within which we live our lives. Our bias toward feeling safe, for example, keeps us (mostly) out of trouble, while a bias towards certain flavors sets us parameters for selecting the dish we’d like to eat at a restaurant. There’s a category of not-so-helpful mental habits and inclinations called “cognitive biases.” Researchers have identified a number of these mind traps. Julia Galef has a great method for avoiding another common bias, the commitment effect. At Business Insider, Samantha Lee put together a great infographic showing 20 cognitive biases that can get in the way of solid decision-making.
2000 Oral History Evaluation Guidelines | Oral History Association The Oral History Evaluation Guidelines are provided as a record. Please see the new document “Principles for Oral History and Best Practices” for Oral History for the Oral History Association’s current guidelines, adopted in September, 2009. 2000 Oral History Evaluation Guidelines Oral History Association Pamphlet Number 3 Adopted 1989, Revised Sept. 2000 History of the Evaluation Guidelines Contents1.1 Foreword1.2 Evaluation Guidelines Committees1.3 Principles and Standards of the Oral History Association 1.3.1 Responsibility to Interviewees1.3.2 Responsibility to the Public and to the Profession:1.3.3 Responsibility for Sponsoring and Archival Institutions: 1.4 Oral History Evaluation Guidelines Program/Project Guidelines, Purposes and Objectives 1.4.1 Interview Conduct Guidelines 1.4.2 Independent/Unaffiliated Researcher Guidelines 1.4.3 Educator and Student Guidelines 1.5 Bibliography Oral History Evaluation Guidelines Over the next decade, new issues arose. Donald A. 1988-1989 Donald A. 1.
Little Progress Has Been Made Since Einstein On The Physics Of Time : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture The star-forming area Messier 17, also known as the Omega Nebula or the Swan Nebula, is a vast region of gas, dust and hot young stars that lies in the heart of the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius. ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM hide caption toggle caption ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM The star-forming area Messier 17, also known as the Omega Nebula or the Swan Nebula, is a vast region of gas, dust and hot young stars that lies in the heart of the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius. Time is elusive and enigmatic. Quandaries and confusion about time date back as far as Aristotle and Augustine, and as recently as Einstein and Feynman. Physicists understand much about time, how its flow varies depending on velocity and gravity, but they haven't reached any consensus on why it flows at all. Consider the following remarkable statement: You are reading the word "now" right now. Until the 20th century, time was merely the stage on which the laws of physics were performed.